Opposition politicians Vincent Henry and Mervyn Williams have come under fire for failing to respect the decision of the National Toshaos Council (NTC) regarding who is authorised to attend its conference, which is currently ongoing at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC)
The politicians were recently refused entry into the dome of the ACCC where closed-door sessions are being held between indigenous leaders from across the country and members of the government.
After the politicians were refused entry, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) released in a statement wherein it condemned the move.
But NTC Chairman Derrick John has since responded, noting that the Council has the authority to determine its own procedures, in keeping with the Amerindian Act.
In fact, the NTC Chair explained that Henry and Williams were among a number of persons who did not have the requisite accreditation to be present in the dome.
“In strict adherence to this Act, the NTC determined that the meetings held in the dome of the ACCC following the opening ceremony of the NTC Conference would be closed-door consultations reserved exclusively for Toshaos, village leaders, and Ministers of Government. Therefore, entry to the dome required proper accreditation from the NTC. Moreover, provisions were made to accommodate all other Amerindians and observers on the ground floor of the ACCC, where the proceedings of the closed-door meetings were streamed live,” John explained in his statement.
John added that the NTC stands resolutely by the actions taken to uphold the safety and order of the conference, given that the rules and regulations regarding attendance are essential to protecting all participants and ensuring that the conference can fulfill its objectives without any form of disruption.
“With conferences of this magnitude, strict rules and protocols concerning attendance are not merely in place but are meticulously enforced to ensure the security and seamless operation of the event, thereby safeguarding all delegates and preserving the integrity of the proceedings,” John said.
Against this backdrop, the NTC Head expressed, “We strongly urge all individuals and entities to respect these protocols and to channel any concerns through the appropriate avenues rather than engaging in the spread of baseless claims and disruptive actions that serve no purpose other than to undermine the important work being undertaken by village leaders.”
Free-for-All
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall also released a statement addressing the matter, referencing 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟰𝟯 (𝟯) (𝗯) of the 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟲 which states “The National Toshaos’ Council shall…allow Amerindians to attend its meetings.”
“This section clearly requires the National Toshaos’ Council to permit persons to attend its meeting. In other words, persons can only attend the meeting by invitation of the National Toshaos’ Council. It is not a free-for-all, even for Amerindians,” Nandlall explained.
In this regard, he noted that “I have confirmed that the persons who were refused entry were not invited by the National Toshaos’ Council to its meeting. Therefore, the decision to refuse entry is in order.”
Hypocritical
Meanwhile, Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo during a press conference today, slammed Henry – an Opposition Member of Parliament – as being hypocritical in his interest and concerns for indigenous communities, given that Henry is still to account for the millions that he handled under the Sustainable Livelihoods Entrepreneurial Development (SLED) Programme.
Last year, Henry was fingered in a damning forensic audit report into the former APNU/AFC Government’s execution of the SLED.
“It’s shameful that not a word was spoken about how in the APNU period, the biggest allocation of funds in Region 9 went to him in the SLED programme. Ask him how the money was distributed… not a word about that, or about [the APNU] sordid history with the amerindian communities,” Dr Jagdeo noted.
The SLED programme, which was implemented through the former Social Protection Ministry, is a programme that was supposed to give grants to cooperatives and friendly societies to equip them to engage in sustainable entrepreneurial ventures. Specifically, it was supposed to be used to uplift disadvantaged youths.
A total of $760 million was disbursed under the SLED programme between 2015 and 2020, in increments of $115 million, $40 million, $100 million, $150 million, $250 million and $105 million, respectively.
During its audit of the programme, the Auditor General Office found gross mismanagement of the funds and the allocation procedures.
